Pneumatically-operated projectile launching devices such as paintball guns, also called paintball markers, have been enhanced to provide a rapid and sustained firing of a large quantity of projectiles. One of such devices is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,326 Smith et al. Large capacity projectile loading and feeding hoppers and magazines are provided to mount above the feeding port of the gun positioned above the breech section. Such a holding and loading magazine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,852 Yokota et al. Some projectile loading and feeding implements combine a hopper mounted on the feeding port of the gun and a loading magazine adapted to dump its contents into the hopper as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,983 Stoneking. The aforesaid three patents are incorporated in this specification by this reference.
During a paintball game, a large quantity of paintballs may be used by each participant. Encumbered by a protective armor and gloves, an partially blinded by a face mask whose lens may have been splattered with paint, a player lacks the dexterity to reload his gun from a sealed magazine. While magazines that can be manipulated and opened with a single hand have been offered in the past, balancing the gun and its ammunition hopper with one hand and manipulating a projectile magazine with the other still requires a great deal of time and attention.
The present invention was devised in an attempt to speed the reloading of a paintball gun in the heat of the battle.